LONDON (AFP) - Australian actress Nicole Kidman accepted damages Friday after a British newspaper claimed she had promoted a rival perfume while acting as the face of the Chanel Number 5 scent.
The Daily Telegraph apologized after its Spy gossip column falsely said last month that Kidman had attended events to promote her new film "The Golden Compass" with a bottle of Jo Malone perfume, which it said was her favourite.
Kidman, who won the best actress Oscar in 2002 for "The Hours", "kept dabbing" on the perfume and was therefore promoting a competitors product, the newspaper claimed.
At Londons High Court, her lawyer John Kelly said that the 40-year-old star suffered embarrassment and distress over the story, which he said suggested she had acted in an unprofessional manner and had flouted her contract.
The newspapers lawyer David Price apologised and said it had now discovered that the source of the story had made it up.
It agreed to pay legal costs and substantial undisclosed damages, which Kidman will donate to the United Nations Development Fund For Women.
